Blayney Skate Park is quickly becoming a reality for students who dreamed of the project years ago, with the first sod turned on Monday ahead of an expected January 2019 completion date.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bailee Selten was one of the group of Blayney High School students who have been pushing for the project for years, and was given the honour of shovelling the first dirt for the project alongside mayor Scott Ferguson and member for Bathurst Paul Toole.
Mr Selten said he was ecstatic to see the project getting underway.
“I think it was more of a dream than anything, I don’t think any of the boys expected it to go this far but all the boys are pretty proud of themselves,” he said.
It’ll be in our own backyard which should be good.
- Bailee Selten
“We put all our ideas together and Blayney Council got a rough idea of it and put it together.”
He said he and his mates’ best chance of skating was heading up the road to Millthorpe, or would go further afield to Orange or Bathurst, but said it would be good to have something closer to home.
“It’ll be in our own backyard which should be good,” Mr Felten said.
Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson said the project was a community-driven piece of infrastructure.
“This was initiated by a group of students at the school – and at the primary school as well – to work with council on the potential of a skate park, and thanks to the support of the state government here we are today at the start of this process,” he said on Monday.
The project received over $270,000 from the first round of the NSW Government’s Stronger Country Communities grants after the project was identified by council in 2016, with planning continuing since then.
Mr Ferguson said the community had rallied around the project.
“Sometimes skate parks can be controversial in communities, but this one – because of the location but also because of the engagement of the school community and the wider community – has been very, very well supported and has been very positive,” Mr Ferguson said.
“We really see this skate park being a terrific addition to the facilities here at Heritage Park.”
Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said it would be an important project to engage young people with a “healthy and active lifestyle”.
He said it would be good for skaters to have “their very own skate park” instead of going further afield to Orange, Bathurst or Millthorpe.
“The mayor and I have both made a pact that we’ll both be there on opening day, he’ll have his crash helmet on, I’ll have the skateboard, some of the councillors will have their scooters, there’ll be plenty of spills but it’ll be exciting,” Mr Toole said.
Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
